Soooooo we all know that the Darkwoods themselves are made from dead bodies fusing into trees, correct? how about having sentient trees that try to absorb organic matter to get bigger? These trees could look totally different from the rest, since they would be constantly twisting and turning, if the player got too close they would use their roots and/or branches to try and pull the player to its trunk, where the player would be absorbed, and thus, die.

To escape I guess we could have a little QTE where we mash the left mouse button? The less you mashed the button the faster you'd get pulled into the tree, and if you mashed fast enough you'd eventually break free. HOWEVERRRRRRR the tree could be burned down with a well thrown molotov, or burned down with gasoline if you got close enough.